CoverGirl Lip Lava Review and Swatches

CoverGirl Lip Lava ($6.49 at Bed, Bath and Beyond) is a new line of lip glosses that just started arriving in stores last week. Actually, I'm not even sure I can call them glosses, because according to the display, "It's not a gloss, a balm, or a lipstick. It's hotter. It's lava."  

Ok, so we all know it's not really lava, so what is it? I purchased four out of the nine available shades to find out!

It was difficult to choose shades because these are all really bold and shimmery...definitely not for everyday wear (at least not my everyday). I finally settled on four shades: a nude, a pink, a violet and a berry. I figured I could sort of cover a broad range that way.

Lava Luster, Lychee Lava, Ooh La Lava, Look it's Lava!

I love the tubes that Lip Lava comes in...they're square and see-through with red caps. I also like the funky font they used. They just look...fun! The applicator is a brush rather than a doe foot, which normally, I don't like.  Brushes usually end up fraying as I try to put them back into the tube and they just annoy me.  But these brushes haven't done that at all because the brushes are really short and they sort of taper in the front to form a point, which makes them easy to insert back into the tube without hitting the sides.

Lava Luster

Lychee Lava

Ooh La Lava

Look It's Lava!

The formula is thick and very pigmented, especially with the darker shades. I applied them pretty heavily with the brush and unlike a gloss, they weren't runny- they clung to my lips like a liquid lipstick.  They felt smooth and moisturizing upon application, although you can definitely feel that you're wearing it due to the thicker formula. 

Out of the four shades I got, three had a large amount of shimmer which started to feel gritty on the lips after a few hours of wear.  Those three shades, Lava Luster, Lychee Lava, and Ooh La Lava lasted about 3-4 hours and after that, there was just some shimmer left and my lips no longer felt smooth...over time it started to feel more tacky and sticky when I pressed my lips together.

Look it's Lava! is the darkest shade I purchased and the most pigmented.  It didn't contain much, if any shimmer and it lasted the longest because it left a stain behind once the shine wore off after 3-4 hours.

Lava Luster is a nude shade that's packed with shimmer and it looked like liquid metal on my lips (even more so in person).  Even though it's a subtle shade, the finish makes it bold and takes it from everyday wear to evening wear.

Lava Luster

Lychee Lava was the most wearable for me.  It had a good amount of shimmer, but it lacked the liquid metal finish that Lava Luster had.  It's a beautiful pink shade that went really well with my fair coloring.

Ooh La Lava is a violet shade that had an almost duochrome finish. At times, it had a bit of a bluish cast, and although it was pretty, I'm not comfortable wearing purple lip colors...at least on an everyday basis.

Look it's Lava darkest color I chose and it's a berry fuchsia without a lot of shimmer. I had to be careful applying it, because it stains the skin if you get it outside your lip line. This one felt smooth for the longest amount of time and stained my lips for hours after the other shades would have worn off. This shade is gorgeous if you're comfortable wearing bold, bright lip colors.

Here are swatches of all four shades:

Overall, I'm not sure how I personally feel about CoverGirl Lip Lava.  On the one hand, I'm super impressed with the pigmentation and finishes...they're totally unlike other drugstore lip products, not to mention they're fun to apply and wear! But on the other hand, I'm a new mom and don't get out much so I'm not sure when I would wear lip products like this (although I kind of wish I did have somewhere to wear them!). I also wasn't crazy about the sticky, gritty feeling that was left on my lips after a few hours.

So if you're a person who loves bold lip looks and doesn't mind reapplying every few hours, I think you might really like these! But if you're like me and favor a subtle, casual lip look most of the time, these might be a bit much.

What do you think of the colors and finishes?  Would you try these?